Mikel Leshoure gets two, now we await a suspension for Nick Fairley

The NFL has announced that they have suspended Detroit Lions RB Mikel Leshoure for the first two games of the 2012 regular season, and fined him an additional two games worth of checks. That means Leshoure will now have missed the first 18 games of his career and that is not a great stat for a second round draft pick, and a guy the team he plays for traded up in the draft to get. Nick Fairley, a fellow member of the troubled 2011 draft class of the Lions, is likely awaiting court proceedings to happen before he likely gets the same punishment from the league.

That means the Lions will be without two key components for the first two games of the season. The loss of Leshoure is significant as we saw the Lions turned into a pass happing team last year out of necessity. Hopefully this year there will be a little more balance to the offensive attack. The loss of Fairley alters, for the length of his suspension, some of the plans to move Ndamukong Suh up and down the Defensive line to create havoc for opposing offenses.

Let’s say the worst happens, and Fairley gets a two game suspension as well. That means the Lions will be without their services for the opening game withSt. Louisat home, and the road opener asSan Francisco. The Rams are not a great team, and if you think that San Fran game is not a big deal (one with a little history behind it) you are fooling yourselves. The 2011 season showed us the importance of getting off to a hot start and we would like to pencil these two games in as wins. That is a tall order, made even taller by the loss of these two knuckle heads.

It’s hard to say how bad the loss of Leshoure is for two games because they will the 17th and 18th games this kid has missed in a row. The Lions survived without him last year and I tend to think they will survive without him for as long as he is out. Again until he actually steps on the field and takes a handoff from Matthew Stafford I have to doubt if that will ever happen. Too many times before we have seen guys never make it to the field. He looks like a NFL burn out right now.

The Fairley thing is equally hard to predict for many of the same reasons. I wonder if we ever saw him last year at 100%. A Lions D line with him and Suh and the tackle spots makes me salivate. Adding Corey Williams to the mix and moving Suh to another spot seems like a great plan. Add a productive, happy Cliff Avril to the mix and the Lions really have something that looks great on paper.

Of course two games does not a season make. I get that, but after a terrible off season and a worsening contract dispute between the team and Avril getting started with a few wins would make the memory of all this drama fade quickly. Not to mention I would not have to read or write anymore the Lions are too undisciplined articles.